Caesar's Column eBook

“But I was not going to see my poor love, or
her family, imposed on by that scheming old widow.
I hurried out of the house; I called a hack, and drove
to Mrs. Brederhagan’s house. I found her
and her son in the first paroxysm of joy—­locked
in each other’s arms.

“‘Mrs. Brederhagan,’ I said, ’your
vicious little devil of a son here has escaped punishment
so far for his cruel and cowardly assault upon a poor
girl. He has escaped through her unexampled magnanimity
and generosity. But do you know what he has done
to her? He has silenced her exquisite voice forever.
He has ruthlessly destroyed that which a million like
him could not create. That poor girl will never
sing again. She was the sole support of her family.
This imp here has taken the bread out of their mouths—­they
will starve. You owe it to her to make a deed
of gift whereby you will endow her with the amount
she was earning when your son’s dagger pierced
her poor throat and silenced her voice; that is—­fifty
dollars a week.’

“The widow ruffled up her feathers, and said
she did not see why she should give Christina fifty
dollars a week. She had declared that her son
was not the one who had assaulted her, and he was a
free man, and that was the end of their connection
with the matter.

“‘Ha! ha!’ said I, ’and so,
that is your position? Now you will send at once
for a notary and do as I tell you, or in one hour your
son shall be arrested again. Christina’s
mother knows him perfectly well, and will identify
him; and Christina herself will not swear in court
to the generous falsehood she told to screen you and
yours from disgrace. You are a worthy mother
of such a son, when you cannot appreciate one of the
noblest acts ever performed in this world.’

“The widow grew pale at these threats; and after
she and her hopeful son—­who was in a great
fright—­had whispered together, she reluctantly
agreed to my terms. A notary was sent for, and
the deed drawn and executed, and a check given, at
my demand, for the first month’s payment.

“‘Now,’ said I, turning to Master
Nathan, ’permit me to say one word to you, young
man. If you ever again approach, or speak to,
or molest in any way, Miss Christina Carlson, I will,’-and
here I drew close to him and put my finger on his
breast,—­’I will kill you like a dog.’

“With this parting shot I left the happy pair.”

CHAPTER XXVII.

MAX’S STORY CONTINUED—­THE
BLACKSMITH SHOP

“I need not describe the joy there was in the
Jansen family when I brought home Mrs. Brederhagan’s
deed of gift and the money. Christina did not
yet know that her voice was destroyed, and hence was
disposed to refuse what she called ‘the good
lady’s great generosity.’ But we
reminded her that the widow was rich, and that her
son had inflicted great and painful wounds upon her,
which had caused her weeks of weary sickness, to say
nothing of the doctor’s bills and the other
expenses they had been subjected to; and so, at last,
she consented and agreed that, for the present at
least, she would receive the widow’s money,
but only until she could resume her place on the boards
of the theater. But the deed of gift drove the
brooding shadows out of the heart and eyes of poor
Mrs. Jansen.